Children walk past the grave of an unknown child from the Titanic sinking, after the 100th anniversary memorial service at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 15, 2012.(Agencies) |
At the shrill sound of a ship's whistle in the North Atlantic, relatives of some of the more than 1,500 people who died when the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg remembered their ancestors in a poignant ceremony a century later. On a still, starry night and with little glare from the moon, the memorial cruise ship MS Balmoral floated above the wreckage of the famous 'unsinkable' luxury liner precisely 100 years to the day it foundered. "At 2:20 am all was quiet, as it would have been 100 years ago when it went deathly quiet, when the screaming stopped," British Titanic historian Philip Littlejohn told the reporters on Sunday. Littlejohn's grandfather, Alexander Littlejohn, was a 1st class steward in charge of lifeboat 13 when the ship began to go down. About 700 people were rescued that night, including his grandfather, but there were too few lifeboats to save the rest. David Haisman, 74, a retired seaman from the English port town of Southampton, mourned the loss of his grandfather who had been on his way to Seattle to start a new life in the United States with his wife and daughter. "I've been brought up with the story but now I could feel it," he said. "My mother used to tell me how she got into lifeboat 14 and her feet became soaked with the 3 to 4 inches of water that remained in the bottom despite bailing." The last time she saw her father was when he cupped his hands and shouted "I'll see you in New York". The story of the world's most famous maritime disaster has gripped the world's imagination, inspiring Hollywood films. While some of those on board the memorial cruise were relatives of the victims, others had paid thousands of pounds in order to retrace the vessel's fateful journey from Southampton to New York. The ship, the biggest in the world at the time, foundered in frigid Atlantic waters off Newfoundland on April 15, 1912. On Saturday, Balmoral's ship's whistle pierced the air at 11.40 pm, the exact time the Titanic hit the iceberg, followed by a two-minute silence. Most of Balmoral's 1,300 passengers then squeezed onto the deck for a service and hymns, and to watch three wreaths be thrown into the calm waters at 2.20am Sunday morning, the moment she sank. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
泰坦尼克號(hào)海難事故發(fā)生一百周年之際,伴隨著大西洋上船舶汽笛的尖銳聲響,部分遇難者家屬舉行沉痛的悼念儀式紀(jì)念先輩。一個(gè)世紀(jì)前,泰坦尼克號(hào)撞上冰山沉沒(méi),超過(guò)1500人因此喪生。 在這個(gè)寂靜的夜晚,月光朦朧,天空布滿繁星,紀(jì)念郵輪“巴爾莫勒爾號(hào)”巡游在泰坦尼克號(hào)的失事地點(diǎn)。100年前的當(dāng)晚,這艘號(hào)稱“永不沉沒(méi)”的著名豪華郵輪沉沒(méi)海底。 英國(guó)泰坦尼克號(hào)歷史學(xué)家菲利普-利特爾約翰上周日告訴記者:“凌晨?jī)牲c(diǎn)二十分,一片沉寂,就如同100年前的當(dāng)晚一樣死寂,這時(shí),船的汽笛聲突然停止了?!崩貭柤s翰的祖父亞歷山大-利特爾約翰當(dāng)時(shí)是頭等艙的管事,船舶開始沉沒(méi)時(shí)主管第13號(hào)救生艇。 當(dāng)晚,大約700人獲救,其中包括他的祖父,但救生艇太少,導(dǎo)致多人遇難。 英國(guó)港口城市南安普敦74歲的退休海員大衛(wèi)-海斯曼悼念了他的祖父。當(dāng)時(shí)他的祖父乘船與妻女一同前往西雅圖,想在美國(guó)開始新的生活。 他說(shuō):“我長(zhǎng)大的過(guò)程中一直聽(tīng)到這個(gè)故事,但我現(xiàn)在可以感受到它了?!?/p> “我的母親曾告訴我,她是如何登上了14號(hào)救生艇,雙腳浸泡在三到四英寸深的水里,盡管向外排水也排不干凈。” 她和父親永別時(shí),父親緊握住她的雙手喊道:“我會(huì)在紐約見(jiàn)你?!?/p> 全球這起最著名的海難的故事引來(lái)了整個(gè)世界的無(wú)限遐想,也給好萊塢影片帶來(lái)了靈感。 盡管紀(jì)念郵輪上的一些人是遇難者的親屬,但也有一些是專門花費(fèi)了幾千英鎊的船票來(lái)重游泰坦尼克號(hào)從南安普敦開往紐約的宿命之旅。 泰坦尼克號(hào)在當(dāng)時(shí)是全球最大的船舶,于1912年4月15日在紐芬蘭附近冰冷的大西洋海域沉沒(méi)。 上周六晚間11點(diǎn)40分,也就是泰坦尼克號(hào)撞擊冰山的準(zhǔn)確時(shí)間,“巴爾莫勒爾”號(hào)紀(jì)念郵輪的汽笛劃破長(zhǎng)空,之后是兩分鐘的默哀。 之后,“巴爾莫勒爾”號(hào)上1300名乘客中的大多數(shù)人擠到甲板上舉行儀式,唱贊美詩(shī)。周日凌晨2點(diǎn)20分,也就是泰坦尼克號(hào)沉沒(méi)的時(shí)刻,人們把三個(gè)花圈扔進(jìn)平靜的水里。 相關(guān)閱讀 泰坦尼克號(hào)沉沒(méi)新說(shuō) 或因海市蜃樓 泰坦尼克號(hào)沉沒(méi)百年 紀(jì)念之旅啟程 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: poignant: 辛酸的,慘痛的 |